When someone orders your gig, respond by thanking them and if you can, let them know when you’ll begin working on their order. I hate dealing with unresponsive sellers. I recently ordered from two sellers, and neither one of them are responding. One of them responded and said it’ll be done within the timeframe. It seemed like it was in a smart tone but whatever. So here I am five days later with no other communication and the gig is late and I have the option to cancel. I really hate to do it because the girl has a nice voice and would love for her to actually do the project. But I’m so frustrated with her lack of communication and professionalism, I may cancel. The bad apart about this, she’s a level 2 seller and the gig has 100% rating, but I just realized that her overall rating is only 36% with a 48% cancellation. That’s nuts! I can’t believe I didn’t notice that. Now I wasted 5 days for nothing. So frustrating. I’ve been working with another seller for 2 weeks, and he delivers late sometimes, but I would never cancel because he constantly messages me with updates on his progress and to get my feedback on what he’s already done. When I work with him I know he’s going to take his time and work on it until I’m completely satisfied. He’s definitely a super seller in my eyes.

So again, sellers…communicate with your buyers. Doing so can help avoid unnecessary cancellations and negative reviews. Do not leave them in the dark. Most of them/us are very understanding.

I must second this tip - the sellers that I’ve been in contact with to keep them updated have been very understanding (like when I was sick). Not only that, but they often are the ones who turn into repeat buyers.

It does go both ways though, because I’ve had a lot of buyers who just send me what I’m to translate and no other words - I do try and message them regardless, unless I finish the translation so quickly that I can write my message in with the delivery of the work (that is to say, I finish it within an hour of my seeing the order).

I think most buyers appreciate being kept in the loop, and they are far more understanding if you explain their situation (or a potential situation where you are under pressure from a day job, a lot of orders or something else) if that might impact the delivery time (even if it’s still delivered within the time you’ve set for the gig).

The last two weeks has been hell, everything that could go wrong went wrong. From my PC breaking to working long hours at my full-time job to power outage…I explained my situation to my buyers and they were more than understanding… Many did not mind waiting up to a month for their product because I keep them in the loop and produced professional quality work for them.

I believe these situations caused a lot of good sellers to have high cancellations, my priority is providing my sellers with a good experience. Being honest up front and build trust and a peace of mind for them.

I always message buyers thanking them for their order and state that it will be done by the deadline. I try to message them the day before I’m going to do the work that I’m going to start on it but with a wee one in the house, I don’t always get the chance.

Good customer service is important and communication is a big part of that.

Often mine will ask how long something will take and I will say “I’ll get it back to you as soon as possible, 24-hour delivery only guaranteed with the Express gig” – not only is that clear, but it has happened that I’ve sold that extra after such a message, so hey, win.

I couldn’t agree more. Great communication = repeat buyers. Most of my positive reviews include a comment about communication. Most important is to message right away after receiving an order. Who wants to spend money on something and get no feedback? It feels like you just sent money down a hole and it is every fiverr buyer’s worst fear. I also try and send each buyer at least one message a day, just so they know I haven’t forgotten about their order.

Keeping buyers informed and being extremely polite, definitely helps. I was super late with one of my gigs (which I’m rarely late), and the buyer still tipped me $25. People just don’t like to feel as if they’re not important and that you’re not working. They appreciate updates.

Most definitely. I hate ordering from a seller that isn’t vocal, but some of them do good work so I tolerate it. I like to respond back to messages as quickly as possible but since Fiverr’s mobile functionality sucks, I no longer respond via my phone. Now I have to wait until I’m on a pc, which takes me awhile. My responsiveness is 13 hrs because of it.